Last week there were 10 contracts signed at $10 million or above according to the Olshan Report. This is the highest total of the year. So is now the time to jump in the market considering many luxury Manhattan apartments have seen their original asking price chopped?

Manhattan market downturns do not last long at least of late. So where is the bottom? Well that is like trying to pick or guess what the Stock market will do next. What we do know is that the amount of permits pulled and amount of luxury properties that are in the pipeline has diminished tremendously and will continue to do so over the next couple years. This will give the current glut of luxury properties a chance to be absorbed into the market. Developers who can sit on their sites will do so and those who can not, will sell or lose them to the next guy. Financing is very difficult now for new construction developments and EB-5 visas is not the panacea that it once was due to pending reform.

Now can be the right time to negotiate a prime Manhattan luxury property but you need to do an analysis of the price per square foot as well as what the neighborhood has to offer. Sellers’ expectations are coming down to reality so if you can find a luxury property and negotiate a fair market price, now may very well be the best time to purchase.

Jennifer Lawrence was spotted condo shopping and reportedly was checking out a condo in Manhattan’s TriBeCa nabe in the 443 Greenwich street condo conversion. The building has an underground garage which makes it paparazzi proof according to LINK.

If she is in that area looking for a condo, one block away and with water views is 70 Vestry which is a ground up condo construction which features a porte-cochere, swimming pool and many of the apartments have water views. This building is designed by Robert A.M. Stern and features the interior design of Daniel Romauldez. Prices start at $7mm.

Larry Silverstein, the developer of the World Trade Center, backed off on plans to build perhaps the tallest residential tower in Manhattan at about 1100 feet. The site falls under the Hudson Yards district so it would be have been necessary to build office space as part of the building but the developer was in negotiations with New York City officials to get a variance to build just residential/commercial. The feeling was that the site was closer to Midtown west and it would make more sense as primarily residential. Negotiations were also over the amount of affordable housing that make up part of the building. Apparently, an agreement was reached over the affordable housing component but then Silverstein decided to put the site for sale instead with CBRE.

This makes sense because by the time this property would have gone to the market, it may be too late for the luxury market. Additionally, 40th street and 11th avenue is a location that will probably be more desirable in another 10 years as it becomes more difficult (read impossible) to find sites. This site as a buy/hold would make sense and/or to build rental housing at this time.

Yorkville, which runs from 72nd street to 96th street east of Third avenue, is seeing a luxury building boom right now according to NYPost. Property values for condos are less in Yorkville per square foot than west of 3rd avenue Upper east side. Buyers priced out of the Upper East side are now venturing east of 3rd avenue and the mix of offerings can be surprising. There are boutique condos to super luxury developments. One such luxury development is The Charles which made headlines with a sale of its top 6 floors for $59 million. The Charles is located at 1355 First avenue and has 27 units spread over 32 floors. Only 4 units remain available.

Several developers are planting stakes including Extell which recently purchased the site of Gristedes at 86th street and 1st avenue for $100million. That site is part of an assemblage that will allow them to build a large condo tower on the site.

Developer Mike Naftali certainly learned his lessons from his development 210 W. 77th street. Originally, when sales launched no units sold. After an intelligent reboot, sales were much more successful and now the building is 70% sold. Now the developer will use the feedback given from buyers on the first building to customize his offering for his next condo on the same block at 221 W. 77th street. One of the things they adjusted was making the kitchens more homey and less hotel like according to NYDN. They found that families on the Upper West side wanted more comfort and less hotel like finishes. Additionally,he added in a couple of 2 bedrooms and 5 bedrooms as well whereas the other Upper West side project had no 2 bedrooms and only a handful of 5 bedrooms. Both condos are located on West 77th street between Broadway and Amsterdam avenue. Prices will start from $4.85 million to $23 million for the new condo.

More and more Manhattan towers are being built on narrow pieces of land and as a result there is a little sway at the upper floors. According to NYT though, this is mitigated by installation of dampeners on the upper floors. Some dampeners add weight to the higher floors and some systems act as a shock absorbers. How much sway is there? The analogy used is having a wine glass and with high winds that are rare you can see the glass move. This would be what would happen without the dampeners. There isn’t a building code that requires this but all new development condos have them and it is not in anyway to make the building safe but rather for the comfort of the owners.

According to HauteLiving, the highest penthouse in NYC is no longer on the market thanks to a Saudi Arabian billionaire-Fawaz Alhokair. The 8,255 square foot condo has 6bd/7bathrooms and a wood burning fireplace. $95 million was the reported price. If and when this deal closes, it will be the 2nd most expensive residential apartment sold in Manhattan behind the purchase of two floors atop the poster child for Billionaire’s Row: One57.

Mr. Alhokair’s company operates more than 2100 stores in fashion including having licenses for Zara, Banana Republic and Gap.

432 Park avenue is currently the tallest residential building in the Western Hemisphere. Prices start at $17mm up to $81mm for another penthouse. The building will have 125 units spread over 96 floors.

Brazilian Billionaire Edson Bueno who sold most of his stake in his insurance and hospital company to UnitedHealth Group for $4.9 billion 3 years ago, purchased his 80th floor crash pad in One57 for $53M. According to NYDN, he bought it under a corporation. The apartment is 6240 sqft with 4 bedroms and 4 bathrooms and is located in the building that holds the record for most expensive residence sale at $100.47M. The apartment will be used as a pied-a-terre when the family is in NYC.

This sale is the ninth most expensive of all time in NYC but will likely be pushed lower on the list with several new condos being built in around Billionaire’s Row including 220 CPS which has already over $1 billion in sales according to reports.

In January of this year, the Extell developed building known as One57 on Manhattan’s Billionaire Row set a record when it sold a 11,000 square foot duplex made up of the 89th and 90th floors for $100.47 million. It was the most expensive residential sale surpassing the previous record set at 15 CPW of $88mm. Now, as has been well documented in this blog and in the media, several other buildings are taking aim at this record and record breaking sell outs. Continue reading Luxury Manhattan market oversupplied?→